Middle Ages
Vlad the Impaler: Vlad III Dracula, Prince of Wallachia
Vlad III fought the Ottomans and his internal enemies with extreme brutality; he lost his throne in 1462, regained it briefly in 1476 and was killed soon after.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Early Modern
Execution of Marie Antoinette (1793): The Last Queen of France
The former queen was condemned after a two-day trial and guillotined the same day, becoming one of the best-known victims of the Terror.
Early Modern
Northwest Ordinance (1787): Governing the Old Northwest
Congress created the Northwest Territory, set a path from territory to equal statehood and prohibited slavery north of the Ohio River.
Early Modern
Sack of Magdeburg (1631): Worst Massacre of the Thirty Years' War
Magdeburg was stormed and almost entirely burned; an estimated 20,000 people died, and the atrocity pushed Protestant princes towards Sweden.
Early Modern
Henry Hudson's Half Moon Voyage (1609) up the Hudson River
No passage to Asia was found, but Hudson's reports of a rich fur country led to Dutch trade on the river and the colony of New Netherland.
Contemporary
Rise of ISIS (2014): The Islamic State Caliphate in Iraq, Syria
ISIS ruled a self-declared caliphate across much of Iraq and Syria for nearly five years before an international coalition and local forces destroyed it in 2019; it survives as an insurgent network with affiliates abroad.
Contemporary
Release of Nelson Mandela (1990): Apartheid Begins to End
Mandela was freed unconditionally after 27 years in prison, opening formal negotiations to end apartheid.
Contemporary
Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp: Protest Against Cruise
The camp became a symbol of the 1980s peace movement; the cruise missiles left under the INF Treaty in 1991 and the base closed soon after.
Ancient World
Orchid Pavilion Gathering (353): Wang Xizhi's Famous Calligraphy
The gathering produced a collection of poems and Wang Xizhi's preface, the Lantingji Xu, which became the most admired model of Chinese running-script calligraphy.
Ancient World
Roman Conquest of Britain (AD 43): Claudius's Invasion
Rome captured Camulodunum and created the province of Britannia, beginning nearly four centuries of Roman rule in Britain.
Ancient World
Royal Tombs of Aegae (Vergina): The Tomb of Philip II (336 BC)
The discovery of richly furnished, unlooted Macedonian royal tombs confirmed Vergina as Aegae, though the identity of the man in Tomb II is still debated.
Ancient World
Temple of Edfu: The Best-Preserved Temple of Ancient Egypt
A complete Ptolemaic temple of Horus survived almost intact, preserving a vast library of inscriptions on Egyptian religion and temple life.